The present invention relates to a method and a device for detection of the position and orientation of a geometric figure, in particular to such a geometric figure position and orientation detection method and device which may be used as a visual sensor for an industrial robot or the like, and more particularly to such a method and device utilizing a novel technological approach to the detection of the position and the orientation of a geometric figure.
In the prior art, in order to detect the position and the orientation of a geometric figure, methods and devices based upon pattern matching and upon linear diagram analysis have been used. However, in the case of a method or a device utilizing pattern matching, it is not easy to detect the position and the orientation of the geometric figure when said geometric figure whose position and orientation are to be detected undergoes a rotational displacement; while, in the case of a method and a device utilizing linear diagram analysis, the disadvantage is incurred that it takes considerable time and computational effort to convert a geometrical figure which has been inputted into a linear diagram.
Further, in both of these cases, a memory device is required which is capable of storing one complete frame of picture image; in other words, a television camera or the like is used for looking at the geometric figure whose position and orientation are required to be detected, and then a full image as transmitted by this camera is required to be stored in high speed computer memory (i.e. RAM memory) for being subsequently processed by pattern matching and upon linear diagram analysis. However, this means that the memory is required to be quite voluminous, and this presents a cost problem in many cases.